Coughing, breathing deeply and even walking: at the Hôpital Nord de Marseille, patients begin their rehabilitation from the recovery room.
Patients walk back to their rooms after a heavy operation. The scene may seem surreal, however, Marseille North Hospitalit has been a reality since June 2018. Starting rehabilitation early would help avoid certain complications.
A Danish method
The technique used in Marseille is part of the measures for “improved rehabilitation after surgery”. This method was implemented in Denmark in the 1990s under the leadership of Prof. Henrik Kehlet. It consists of taking charge of the patient as soon as possible after his operation to help him recover more quickly. The approach is multidisciplinary: it combines physiotherapy, nutrition, surgery, etc.
Exercises from the recovery room
In Marseille, teams from the Nord hospital have been using these techniques since June 2018 with patients who have undergone major operations such as the removal of part of the colon, pancreas or lung. Usually, patients have to wait until the day after their operation to get up and start rehabilitation, in some cases it can even take several days.
Dr Laurent Zieleskewicz, hospital practitioner in anesthesia-resuscitation, explains to 20 Minutes Marseilles : “as soon as we have calmed the pain, we make the patients stand up and make them do the first respiratory physiotherapy exercises”. Patients will learn to cough without hurting themselves or to breathe freely in the recovery room. “In order to avoid (…) that the lungs shrivel up which can lead to postoperative pulmonary complications”, underlines the health professional.
Walking back to your room
The caregivers present in the recovery room help the patient to take a few steps. Of the 500 people who have been followed in this way since June 2018, 80% have managed to walk right after waking up. The more daring even manage to walk back to their room. Like Pierre, 57, operated on for a cancerous tumor in the rib cage: “the fact of walking in and out changes everything in terms of morale”, he explains in the article by our colleagues. For Dr. Zieleskewicz, patients precisely have an influence on their recovery, and this method makes it possible to empower them according to him.
In Marseille, a study is underway on the results of the improved rehabilitation protocol after surgery. According to High Authority of Healthin France, more than 100 hospital teams have adopted this approach.
.
